Responding to Marginalization

Jie Y Park

doi:10.1177/2158244016684912

Abstract

This article offers an analysis of how refugee youths from Africa used and shifted languages and discourses in the United States. Drawing on sociocultural theories of language and utilizing ethnographic discourse and classroom observation data, the author illustrates the varied ways in which three high school–aged refugee youths used languages to make sense of who and where they are; respond to social, religious, and linguistic marginalization in the United States; and challenge narrow perceptions of African Muslims. This article brings to fore a group that, although facing a unique set of challenges in the United States, is rarely included in research on youth language practices and im/migration. Attention to their multilingual practices and the multilayered nature of their identity is central to understanding how refugee youths experience school in their new land, and how they see themselves and others. This understanding can guide school personnel, educational researchers, and community-based youth workers in their respective work with refugee students.

Highlights

When I first came here, I don’t know how to speak English, and I went to immigration shelter
Drawing on ethnographic discourse and classroom observation data, I illustrate the varied ways in which three high school–aged youths—who came from Mali, Nigeria, and Ethiopia—used language to make meaning of who and where they are; respond to social, religious, and linguistic marginalization in the United States; and challenge narrow perceptions of Africans and Muslims
This article brings to fore a group that, facing a unique set of challenges in the United States, is rarely included in research on youth language practices, identity formation, and education: African Muslim refugees who enter the United States as unaccompanied minors

Summary

Introduction

When I first came here, I don’t know how to speak English, and I went to immigration shelter. The focal youths in this article negotiated daily about what it means to be young, Black, Muslim, female, and poor in the United States They were under the care of foster parents whose language and cultural practices differed from their own. Unlike many Muslim immigrant youths who grow up in working or middle-class families (Sirin & Fine, 2008), the young women in this article entered the country as unaccompanied minors, traveling alone or with a sibling. Due to their documentation status, they were unable to work after school, which created

Results

Discussion

Conclusion